Released in theaters on May 2, 2022, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness marked Sam Raimi's triumphant return to the world of superhero cinema after previously helming Tob Maguire's Spider-Man trilogy.
The film was generally praised by fans and critics alike, on its way to grossing $955.8 million at the global box office.
However, a new report from Forbes raises questions about whether the film was profitable, considering its massive budget.
Previously, it was thought that Disney/Marvel spent $294M to produce the film, however, tax filings that Disney is required to disclose for productions filmed in the U.K. have revealed that Marvel spent £331.9 million or $414.9 million on the Doctor Strange sequel.
Given that box office revenue is split 50/50, Marvel pocketed ~$477.9 million after sharing ticket sales with theater owners, and that doesn't include what Marvel spent on P&A costs.
Recently, Raimi's name has come up as a potential director for a number of upcoming MCU films, including a sequel to No Way Home and Avengers: Secret Wars, but Kevin Feige and co. may be a bit hesitant, given the high production cost on Multiverse of Madness.
However, in Raimi's defense, filming on the Doctor Strange sequel was delayed due to COVID-19 and it's likely that Marvel was forced to absorb extra costs in order to hold on to the soundstages at Longcross Studios, which is just outside of London.
Interestingly enough, Forbes has also provided a chart for the most expensive Marvel films shot in the UK to date, which you can check out below. Again, these are the numbers reported by Disney, who is forced to report on their production costs in order to receive a tax rebate via the government's Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit.
- Infinity War and Endgame: $1.265B production cost
- Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness: $414.9M production cost
- Avengers: Age of Ultron: $388.3M production cost
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: $328.2M production cost
- The Eternals: $302M production cost
- Black Widow: $286.7M production cost
- The Marvels: $277.3M production cost
- Doctor Strange: $230.8M production cost
- Guardians of the Galaxy: $224.1M production cost
- Thor: The Dark World: $217.1M production cost
- Captain America: The First Avengers: $173.7M production cost
- Ant-Man: $157.7M production cost
Going by this list, it's interesting to see just how much the budget increases from the first entry in a Marvel franchise to future installments.
Recently, Disney CEO Bog Iger stated that Marvel Studios would be returning to a yearly output of 2-3 MCU films but that might not solve its box office dilemma if the studio doesn't start to reign in its production budgets.
ABOUT DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS: In Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.